The ‘cloud of witnesses’ as part of the public court of reputation in Hebrews

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Authors

Cromhout, Markus

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

AOSIS Open Journals

Abstract

By drawing parallels with the function of ancestors in African traditional religions, this article looks at the possibility that the Israelite ancestors mentioned in Hebrews played a far more dynamic role for the author and community he wrote for than most commentators appreciate. In addition to being examples of loyalty, it is argued that they also constitute an active presence, and similar to God, form part of the public court of reputation distributing honour to the Jesus followers. This also grounded and affirmed their Israelite identity.

Description

This article was read as a paper at the Context Group Meeting, held at the University of Pretoria, 03−04 August 2010.

Keywords

Hebrews, Israelite ancestors, Public court of reputation

Sustainable Development Goals

Citation

Cromhout, M., 2012, ‘The “cloud of witnesses” as part of the public court of reputation in Hebrews’, HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 68(1), Art. #1151, 6 pages. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.